Looking for bit swapping tips

Thanks! I suppose that the initial move of your cut would deal with the zaxis, and that lifting the sled to remove the plate ensures that the bit doesn’t scrape?

That’s right. 12345678

Yeah, I was confused at first too. The metal plate has to be big enough to slip under the router with enough left over for the wire attachment. Really it can be any thickness. After it is zeroed, you swing the router out and then back down. The bit is now exactly at the top of the workpiece. So, you can start the real program.

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@blurfl, do you unplug your router before you start the Z-axis zeroing?

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turning it off might be a good idea :smiley:
Maybe unplugging as well since you could run into grounding poblems.
Maybe it’s a better idea to have the plate be the 5V and the router the ground, since the router’s metal should allready be grounded.

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Yes i do unplug it. That helps in remembering to remove the zeroing gear when its time to start cutting :wink:

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Is there a method in GC to account for a known plate thickness? E.g. to set work zero at -1mm when using a 1mm thick zeroing plate?

if the plate is under the sled, no offset is needed since the work surface will be at the top of the plate/bottom of the sled.

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Riiiiiighttt… I’m just going to go sit quietly in the corner now :slight_smile:

What about those crazy “plate above sled” people?

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:slight_smile: They are out of luck!

No, but there have been some ideas floated of having a plate on the top side of the sled that could be slid into place and just cover the hole in the sled, possibly even automating it. In that use case then your concern over the offset would be warranted.

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I was thinking a laser would be fun (it would break the beam as it lowered and as long as the beam to wood offset was known…

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Interesting idea. I am still planning to try to implement laser cross hairs at some point. Not the same thing at all, but still lasers :slight_smile:

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Just curious, what part of the macro “sets zero” or do we have to click set zero after the prob makes contact?

G20 (Inches)
G90 (Absolute)
G38.2 (Probe/stop contact/error) Z-.15 (max distance travel) F1 (Feedrate)
G20
G90
M02 (End of Program)

I think the G38.2 does that

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G38.2 (Probe/stop contact/error) Z-.15 (max distance travel) F1 (Feedrate)

G38.2 probes the Z axis and zeroes the z axis at the touch point when AUX4 gets pulled low by the bit touching the grounded item. If the touch point is not reached before the Z max distance travel (relative distance from beginning point) in the command, the ‘STOP’ command is issued which halts all movement and exits any program in progress, without altering the Z zero.

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Thank you

I had an idea about a way to do zeroing, which applies to this thread, I posted a new topic here for your comments.

Then what other part would do it, since i use that macro, and i’ve never pushed “set zero”

Sorry, I guess I wasn’t clear. I was agreeing with you. :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:
It doesn’t matter what value the Z has before running the macro, when the bit touches, the firmware sets it to zero.

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what is that blue plastic connector on your aluminum plate? I was thinking about using a copper wire attached to aluminum using a screw and nut since the best way for a secure electrical connection between these two metals is with high pressure contact.